OH DANNY JOY! HEED ON SONG
GATESHEAD 2 DARLINGTON 1883 0
GOALS either side of halftime gave Gateshead victory over National League North newcomers Darlington in a competitive North East derby on Tyneside.
Both were quality finishes, summer signing Wes York giving the Heed a 38th minute lead at a time when Darlington were bossing proceedings.
Danny Johnson, one of eight halftime substitutes, then doubled the advantage three minutes into the second half from 16 yards.
It was the striker’s fifth goal in five half matches in pre-season, the Tynesiders winning four of them.
Gateshead assistant manager Lee Nogan, a former Darlington player like manager Neil Aspin, was happy with the display if not the yellow card.
“There were a few feisty challenges going in, but you want that,” said Nogan. “It was a competitive game, but the referee could have managed it better.
“It was a friendly and now we’ve got a player on a booking before the start of the season, so it’s not ideal.
“It was a great workout for us. We knew it would be difficult and it was a good test.We were good for 20 min- utes in each half and created chances.”
A heavy shower before kick-off spiced up the pitch and the Heed should have been ahead inside the opening ten minutes, Sam Jones heading over from close in.
The Quakers had grown into the game and caused the Heed problems, but lacked a cutting edge in front of a crowd of 427.
They should have led when Adam Mitchell set up a great chance for Amar Purewal inside the box, only for the striker to blaze wastefully wide of goal.
The miss was soon punished, the lively York turning sharply on the left corner of the penalty area to evade Marrs and curl a beauty into the corner of the net.
Johnson’s shot on the turn from fellow sub Toby Ajala’s cut-back made it two straight after the break.
“I thought it was a worthwhile exercise and we had a good spell in the first half when we should have scored a couple of goals,” said Quakers boss Martin Gray.
“Several players, like Terry Galbraith and Chris Hunter, had some valuable match minutes after injuries and our two centre-halves were very strong.” STAR MAN: Peter Jameson (Darlington) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★